Disclaimer- Argh, I'm sick of writing these. I'm not creative enough for this.

AN- TEN MILLION DOLLARS TO PICKLES, WHO REVIEWED IN JAPANESE! (sniff) I actually had to look the "subarashii" part up. I'm so used to seeing it in hiragana… けどね、とーーーーてもカッコいいよ、あんたは! ((This is an edit of my original author's note, which was so optimistic…. See end for my list of lame excuses))

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haruka na hoshizora ni yume wa mada miemasu ka?

osanai ano hi yori azayaka desu ka?…

tatoe tookutemo kitto tadoritsukeru tsuyoku shinjiteta

ano hi no watashi ga ima mo kokoro de nemutte iru

can you still see your dreams in the distant starry sky?

are they more vivid than when you were young?…

I used to believe that I could achieve anything, no matter how far it was

even now, that me sleeps in my heart

(scarlet (Ayashi no Ceres))

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Shuuichi's arrival at home was much delayed by his argument/bonding session with Hiei, and so he was in so much of a hurry to get to some food that he almost didn't see his mother lying on the couch with a downcast look on her face. When he looked over, though, she quickly sat up and forced a wan smile.

"You're back late," she commented lightly.

He put his books down. "I was talking to someone… Is everything okay? You look tired."

"I went to the doctor today, and…"

Shuuichi heard no more, sick as he suddenly felt. In all his random worry about Hiei, he had almost forgotten his own mother's situation. It was the first time he hadn't remembered when she had an appointment.

"-and they're saying…" Shiori stopped, trying to collect herself. "They're not sure they can do anything at this point… it's gone too far."

"But…" His world was collapsing around him. His mother had been sick for so long that it had started to seem normal, like she'd never get well, but it would never get worse either. Almost as unconscious self-protection, he had not allowed himself to think about her. He talked about it, certainly, but never absorbing the meaning of his own words. And this…

"It might be okay, though. There's no need to worry yet."

He swallowed. "I… I'm sorry…"

"What for?" she asked curiously, sitting up a little straighter, though with no little effort.

"I've been so busy with other stuff, I just haven't…"

"It's okay. You can't just worry about me all the time, Shuuichi. You have to talk to other people once in a while." 

Shuuichi nodded slowly, not sure he quite agreed, but willing to listen if it made his mother happy. Shifting his weight from one leg to another, he spoke in a voice that was softer and closer to tears than he might have liked. "Do you need anything? I can bring you food…"

"That would be nice. Thank you."

Swallowing hard, he nearly ran out of the room. It still didn't seem real, not at all, but in another part of him, he knew his mother would never have lied about something like that, and that no doctor could be so cruel. Still, the only remaining conclusion, that maybe she was really dying, was far too surreal. She was his mother, for the love of God. She had been with him, by definition, since the beginning. She was a constant in his life, and he knew that constants did not just leave you. It couldn't be.

He smiled a little at this thought. So she wasn't leaving, and everything was all right. As he brought the plate over to her, he even managed to look passably cheerful, and felt almost good enough about the whole situation to ask something that had been bothering him.

"If you knew someone who was being abused, who didn't want your help… just theoretically, you know… What would you do?"

A number of things ran through Shiori's head at the same time when she heard that. It became perfectly clear what was happening to Shuuichi's study partner. And for a moment she worried for him, who recovered so quickly from so large a shock. And then she felt jealous that he had so easily discarded her… but these feelings she pushed far back, reminding herself that he had to learn to handle life without her, as morbid as it seemed.

"I don't know. What do you think you should do?"

"I want to…" He shook his head violently. "I shouldn't be bothering you with all this."

"No, it's perfectly all right. I'm fine… You don't have to keep worrying."

"Don't lie to me," he whispered. "I'm not a child anymore."

Something flickered in her drawn face. "I know."

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There is a concept called the "butterfly effect". The idea goes something like this- a butterfly goes off along the yellow brick road, and fifty million people die in a mysterious cyclone in a galaxy far, far away. Yet it is a serious theory, and one that is very real.

Even the smallest of actions has devastating consequences.

Innocence can bring suffering far beyond that which evil causes.

But Shuuichi didn't know that. In his world, good brought about good. What goes around comes around, and he was certain that the deed of "rescuing" Hiei would be justly rewarded.

We see people who are pure, and we strive to protect them and shield them, because they remind us of what we once were, and what we will never again be. Never do we consider that maybe… we shouldn't.

One butterfly can ruin the lives of so many others… and its own.

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Two thousand? Oh well.

I was all set to do the two thousand, but then,my baby hamster, mentioned before, up and kicked the bucket. I immediately fell into a depressive funk, and could not bring myself to work on this fic. Story of my life.

Despite my unwillingness,I worked hard to meet my "deadline",but then I realized… this can't be twenty days late, because twenty days after the last update, I'll be halfway across the country. Oops. So here's like a half of the chapter. No da.

The reviews were extraordinarily nice, and the next chapter is coming up as soon as I finish, which will hopefully be soon thanks to the break. Love you all!